Putter weight

[Kor.A.Door]

I have read on here about all the weighting issues with the new adjustable drivers, where the "experts" say that it would take "monumental" shifts in weight for it to make any difference in the feel, or loft of the club, but when you talk about the putter, everyone says that a couple of grams from one end needs to be replaced after an adjustment.

 

So, what I am wondering is if the addition and subtraction of weight in the driver makes very little difference, then why would cutting an inch or two off of the length of a putter make so much of a difference that everyone says that you will need to add or subtract weight from the butt or head of the putter. If we are talking about just a few grams of weight, the normal person or any person for that matter would not be able to tell the difference between 3-4 grams of weight.

 

so why does it matter so much in the putter, but make little or no difference inthe driver.

[JMiller]

I have read on here about all the weighting issues with the new adjustable drivers, where the "experts" say that it would take "monumental" shifts in weight for it to make any difference in the feel, or loft of the club, but when you talk about the putter, everyone says that a couple of grams from one end needs to be replaced after an adjustment.

 

So, what I am wondering is if the addition and subtraction of weight in the driver makes very little difference, then why would cutting an inch or two off of the length of a putter make so much of a difference that everyone says that you will need to add or subtract weight from the butt or head of the putter. If we are talking about just a few grams of weight, the normal person or any person for that matter would not be able to tell the difference between 3-4 grams of weight.

 

so why does it matter so much in the putter, but make little or no difference inthe driver.

 

Well, a swing weight in a driver not mattering is a matter of opinion, i got into that debate over in the blog post. For me as a better player I can normally pick up the difference between 1 point when I swing the club, it effects my timing into impact slightly / my control of the shot or consistency on the face of the club. I can see where some people are a lot less sensitive to swing weight espesually with a driver at the speed / tempo they swing it or I mean try to kill it. If you don't have tempo / consistency in the swing then it's less likely you'll be able to pick up on subtitle things like 1 point swing weight change. For me I can't play clubs once they get down bellow D2, I get in front of the ball at D0-D1 which causes nasty results. I also can't play something once it gets to D7 or heavier it tends to slow down my hands too much and i get behind in my timing. So finding the happy middle is right around D3-D6 for me more preferably D4 / D5. If you cut down a driver from 45.00" to 44.50" you are likely to lose about 2 or 3 points, so to get the same heavier feel that you had at 45.00" you need to add 2g per 1 swing weight point lost.

 

 

As for a putter:

I think people might be more sensitive to the head weight as the club is a slower stroke / swing. There is a delay between what you see / feel and what is really going on. With the slower stroke the delay is short enough people will manipulate the head when the weight is off and something looks or feels off. At least that;'s my best guess at it in terms of weight on a putter changing.

 

My logic and from my own putting experience of my model:

When the putter is too light I tend to accelerate it too much or take too long a back stroke / decelerate coming through. I don't have the resistance / feedback in head weight I need to stay in tempo. I will almost always bee long and / or left of my line when the putter gets a touch light.

 

When the putter gets too heavy a lot of times the player will leave the putt short on even 10 foot putts and really short on lag putting. For me I tend to leave the ball short and right of my target line, I will tend to hit blocks off the putter.

 

It's really about finding the perfect balance in weight to satisfy what you need to feel in the stroke not to manipulate the putter head 100 different ways. You just have to find a putter design the satisfies: weight, rotational requirement, offset bias. A stroke that the face stays somewhat square relative to the path is more stable then one that gates closed to open (SBST theory) or open to closed more so then the arc calls for.

 

It can get pretty complex and individual when weight of the head directly influences the players feel.

[JMiller]

Swing Speed

 

 

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever

 

lol yea, I guess you can sum my ramble up in these words

[Kor.A.Door]

I kind of knew what the difference is. I can tell when a putter is lighter or heavier, lets say from 340 to 350, that makes sense, but if 1 point is equal to about 2 grams, most golfers are not going to feel that. I know hat swing speed will make a difference in the driver, but, personally a can tell when my driver is set up wrong with the swing weight and loft lie, not from the feel standpoint, but from the flight of the ball.

 

it's just one of things that made me think

[JMiller]

I kind of knew what the difference is. I can tell when a putter is lighter or heavier, lets say from 340 to 350, that makes sense, but if 1 point is equal to about 2 grams, most golfers are not going to feel that. I know hat swing speed will make a difference in the driver, but, personally a can tell when my driver is set up wrong with the swing weight and loft lie, not from the feel standpoint, but from the flight of the ball.

 

it's just one of things that made me think

 

I now that majority of people can not feel 1 point on any club. I think really as the handicap gets higher the less of a feel the person will probably have. I wouldn't expect most 20 handicaps for example to tell the different in even 3 points they might start not notice at 4 or 5 points or higher amounts of change getting into the drastic amounts. I would imagine that their is someone out there wouldn't be able to tell between a 5 to 6 points even.

 

If you look at the different lengths and swing weights of the putter you start to get a little more of a picture of really what weights and lengths come standard:

 

Scotty Cameron Newport 2

Loft : 4°

Lie : 71°

Length : 33", 34", 35"

Headweight : 360g, 350g, 340g

Swingweight : C9-D1, D2-D4, D6-D8

 

I think this tells you that the manufacture feels that majority of it's users will not feel within 1 to 2 points of swing weight change in a single length. Which I would tend to agree with for majority of players that they won't feel the difference between C9 and D1.

 

I just had my Scotty Cameron Newport 2 (Carbon >> original finish was the oil can finish) it sits at 33", the loft was 2* I had that moved to 4* then I had to re-figure out what weight I needed at the new loft. Tried things like 340g, 346g, 350g, 360g, 370g to see where my stroke smoothed out and my distance control / feel was the best. I'll see what happens with it, currently It's at 370g (the head weighs 332g, there is a 8g tip weight in it, now there is 30g of powder weight / cork down the shaft to get the feel / swing weight up), It would swing weight something around D2-D5 I would imagine. I haven't actually tested teh swing weight so I can't give you a specific conclusion on it. If I were to make a guess at it probably D3 or D4 is my best guess.

 

But you are right it is an interesting topic, like I said I think people might be more sensitive on a putter as the swing is a lot slower.

[Kor.A.Door]

My daughter had surgery last Thursday, so i had 5 days in the Hospital to think about all sorts of stupid questions,and topics and whatever else came through my crazy mind.

[BIG STU]

I guess it would be individual feel. Everyone is different. Personally on my clubs I don't worry about the swingweight number per say eventhough I have 2 swingweight machines. I swing it by feel and add lead tape when needed and that goes for putters too. I have always been gifted with feel. When I drove dirt track race cars I raced with no gloves on and felt what the car was doing in my hands. I made the comment when the racing association made us wear gloves for safety reasons that driving a race car with gloves on was like having sex with a condom. (cleaned up because this is a family site and I don't wanna get kicked off) It all adds up to individual feel